A deep fried burrito filled with perfectly seasoned chicken and melty Pepper Jack cheese. These are not only easy to make but they are oh so good to eat!!! You can skip frying them, all the ingredients are fully cooked, but frying the tortillas makes them crunchy and crispy and gets the cheese all melty and gooey and YUM-YUM-YUM!!!
You can use rotisserie chicken meat if you have it on hand but if you don’t and need to cook some up, using your slow cooker makes it easy to get the cooked chicken breasts you need for this recipe.
Place them in a slow cooker and add chicken broth. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. I just pull them straight out of the freezer and pop them in the slow cooker and let them cook all day.
When I’m ready for dinner all that’s left to do is shred the meat with a fork. Easy peasy!!!
Assemble Chimichangas:
Place the shredded chicken meat in a large bowl and add chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper and a couple tablespoons of chicken broth from the slow cooker or use a bit of water. Chicken breasts can be pretty dry, adding just a just a little liquid will help to moisten the meat a bit and helps with mixing the meat and seasonings. You don’t want a soupy mixture, just a little added moisture.
Place a couple tortillas at a time between two damp paper towels and heat them on high in the microwave for 10 – 15 seconds or until tortillas are warm and soft. This will prevent them from cracking when you roll them around the filling.
Lay out a warmed tortilla and add about 1/2 cup of grated cheese.
Top cheese with about 1/2 a cup of the seasoned chicken meat.
Top the meat with another generous mound of grated cheese.
Roll the tortilla into a tight roll, tucking in the sides and completely enclosing the filling to form a tidy little burrito package.
Place seam side down on a platter while you finish filling and rolling the remaining tortillas.
Cook Chimichangas:
Set up a fry station. Place a wire rack in a cookie sheet and set aside.
Pour enough oil in a large skillet so that the oil will come about 1/2 way up the sides of the chimichangas while cooking.
Heat oil over medium high heat.
When oil is hot use tongs to place a chimichanga in the pan, seam side down. Hold it in place for about 15-20 seconds to make sure the tortilla doesn’t unroll.
Fry for about a minute per side, just until heated through and the tortillas are a crisp golden brown.
Remove cooked chimichangas with tongs and place on wire rack to allow any excess oil to drain off. Continue this shallow fry method with the remaining chimichangas, frying a couple at a time.
These are soooooo tasty!!! My husband who is not a fan of chicken, LOVES these!!! Once you bite into the crunchy shell, you get a bite of perfectly seasoned chicken and soft melted cheese. These Chimichangas are utterly delectable. Be sure to serve them with plenty of sour cream!!!
You must serve these with a generous side of sour cream and if desired, some salsa. Make up a batch of Mama Rita’s Famous Salsa. It takes just a few minutes and it is literally the World’s Best Salsa!!! Everyone that tries it agrees!!! Don’t believe me? Just make some already, you will become legend!!! Thank you Mama Rita for one of the BEST RECIPES EVER!!!
Chicken & Cheese Chimichangas
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 1 can chicken broth
- 1½ tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- 8 large burrito size flour tortillas
- 8 oz colby jack, cheddar or pepper jack cheese, grated
- vegetable oil, for frying
- sour cream, to serve
- salsa, to serve
Instructions
Cook Chicken Breasts:
- Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker and add chicken broth to cover. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred chicken breast meat with a fork.
Assemble Chimichangas:
- Place the shredded chicken meat in a large bowl and add chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper and a couple tablespoons of chicken broth from the slow cooker just a little to moisten the meat a bit.
- Place tortillas between two damp paper towels and heat them on high in the microwave for 10 – 15 seconds or until tortillas are soft. This will prevent them from cracking when you roll them around the filling.
- Lay out a warmed tortilla and add about 1/2 cup of grated cheese.
- Top cheese with about 1/2 cup of chicken meat.
- Top the meat with another generous mound of grated cheese.
- Roll the tortilla into a tight roll, tucking in the sides and completely enclosing the filling to form a burrito.
- Place seam side down on a platter while you finish filling and rolling the remaining tortillas.
Cook Chimichangas:
- Set up a fry station. Place a wire rack in a cookie sheet and set aside.
- Pour enough oil in a large skillet so that the oil comes about 1/2 way up the sides of the chimichangas.
- Heat oil over medium high heat.
- When oil is hot use tongs to place a chimichanga in the pan, seam side down. Hold it in place for about 15-20 seconds to make sure the tortilla doesn't unroll.
- Add another chimichanga to the pan holding it in place for 15-20 seconds with the tongs.
- Fry for about a minute per side, just until heated through and the tortillas are a crisp golden brown.
- Remove cooked chimichangas with tongs and place on wire rack to allow any excess oil to drain off.
- Continue this shallow fry method with the remaining chimichangas, frying a couple at a time.
- Serve with a side of sour cream and salsa if desired.
Did You Make This?
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We can’t eat fried foods. Can this be converted to baked?
I think baking them would be a great alternative. I would baste them with a little melted butter and bake them at 350 degrees until the tortillas are golden brown and they are heated through. About 15-20 minutes? The filling is cooked so you just want to make sure they are heated through, the cheese is melty and the shells crunchy. Let me know how they turn out for you if you decide to bake them. I bet they will taste really good!!!